Chapter 21 How Did This Happen?

The taxi driver demonstrated the driving skills he had honed in this city.

Fast, stable, and safe.

An experienced driver like him wasn't even checked by the traffic police.

Wei Yuan ate two candies, slightly recovering from the nausea and weakness. On the way, he was thinking about which divination technique to exchange for. The divination techniques of the Divine Land system were basically divided into ancient and post-ancient, with the birth of the *Yi* (I Ching) as the dividing point.

Later, Confucius integrated and annotated the *Book of Changes*, allowing it to be learned by more people.

The *Guang Ya* records that *shu* is technique.

The *Book of Changes* was also a required subject for Confucian disciples. What was in the armory of the Han Dynasty was the *Book of Changes* annotated by Dong Zhongshu during the reign of Emperor Wu of Han. This divination technique was good at predicting events, not fortune-telling. Wei Yuan's current merit points could only be exchanged for annotated handwritten copies, not the spiritual explanations within.

However, Wei Yuan didn't care much about this. He was taught by Zhang Jiao himself, and his own understanding of Daoism was sufficient. Coupled with a handwritten copy annotated by a great Confucian, it was enough for him to master the divination technique, at least for now.

Arriving at his destination, Wei Yuan paid with his phone and swayed out of the car. It was already a bit late. He saw the museum was lit and pushed open the door out of curiosity. He saw Tiannü Jue sitting in a chair, wearing a light khaki long-sleeved shirt and dark blue denim overalls, with a brown newsboy cap on her head.

Her black hair fell down, and the cuffs of her sleeves had a steampunk style.

He saw that she was completely focused, still using the black cat as a model for her painting.

But this time, the girl's painting had undergone tremendous changes.

Lifelike, or rather, judging from the brushstrokes, she couldn't be called an accomplished master yet, but she was already a very talented artist, and it had only been a short time since she had last transformed the black cat into that state.

Such a rate of progress could almost be described as terrifying.

Wei Yuan was surprised. Tiannü Jue made the last stroke and nodded in satisfaction.

Noticing Wei Yuan's gaze, she said calmly, "How is it?"

This time, Wei Yuan sincerely said, "Amazing!"

The girl smiled slightly, put down her paintbrush, and said casually, "After all, I've lived for a long time, and I've also learned the principles of painting from many painters in Divine Land. I can understand things by analogy and learn quickly."

The black cat had already resigned itself to its fate, but hearing this, it seemed like there was a turning point.

It immediately raised its head from its slumped position.

It jumped up and was startled when it saw a black cat in the painting with a lazy and sharp expression.

Then it recognized that it was itself.

It was immediately satisfied and carefully looked at the painting, pointing its paw at the painting: "Meow, meow..."

The girl's denim overalls and white canvas shoes had traces of paint on them. Seeing Wei Yuan's expression, she winked her right eye, smiled, and tapped the brown newsboy cap on her head with the paintbrush, letting a strand of black hair fall down. She lowered her voice and said with a hint of pride, "As compensation, I used a little artistic skill."

Wei Yuan looked at the satisfied cat.

This artistic technique was not just a little bit.

He immediately noticed what the girl had just said and asked in surprise, "Does Kunlun Mountain let you go down the mountain to learn things?"

Jue smiled and replied, "Yes, we're not always on the mountain. We always have to come down to breathe. At that time, the Queen Mother will arrange for some people from the mortal world to teach us things. And the mortal world often produces great talents that even the Queen Mother of the West is shocked by. She will bring these people's books to Kunlun Xu and preserve them."

Wei Yuan thought for a while and suddenly thought of the *Book of Changes*, which was originally integrated and annotated by Confucius. If Jue had also learned it, then asking the girl for guidance would be like having a disciple of an ancient Confucian explain it to him. In this way, his divination technique should be able to advance more quickly. He immediately asked curiously, "Then Jue, do you know the Confucian *Book of Changes*?"

Jue's face seemed to pale slightly, and she asked, "Confucian? Confucius's Confucianism?"

Wei Yuan said, "Yes, all Confucianists learn this, which is the *Book of Changes*."

He noticed the hint of shock remaining on the girl's face and said, "What's wrong? Jue?"

The girl gently stroked her chest, exhaled, and said, "I, I didn't learn it... Although I had the opportunity, I was scared by Confucius at that time."

"In the end, my sisters and I didn't learn his principles."

Wei Yuan was stunned and said, "Confucius, scared?"

Before he could continue, the water ghost and the Qi Family Army soldiers' souls heard the voice and came over. The ghosts' faces were full of curiosity. The water ghost patted his chest and said carelessly, "What's so scary about Confucius? He's a model teacher for all generations. I remember his portrait, isn't he just an old man?"

The Qi Family Army soldiers' soul nodded in agreement, saying:

"Those Confucian scholars have a sour smell, making people want to draw their knives and chop them."

"They only know how to talk, useless bookworms."

The two dead old brothers successfully reached a consensus.

The girl, whose memory last remained in the Jin Dynasty, was stunned, blinked her eyes, and said:

"...Kind? Only know how to talk, useless?"

The Qi Family Army soldiers' soul scratched his head and reluctantly used his mana to construct an illusion in the air, saying:

"Confucian scholars are like this."

A thin, pale-faced scholar appeared in the air.

"Holding this."

A book appeared in the scholar's hand.

"Saying this, 'zhi hu zhe ye', only knowing how to talk."

Wei Yuan understood a little. He looked at the girl next to him and said:

"Jue, have you met Confucius?"

The heavenly maiden took a deep breath and whispered:

"I have not seen the model teacher for all generations you speak of."

"But if you are talking about a man who is more than two meters tall, weighs at least two hundred pounds, comes from a family of military generals, can carry the city gate of the capital that bears the fate of the country and still laugh, runs faster than a rabbit demon, can drive a bronze chariot with four horses with one hand, use a bronze *ge* and a bronze *ji* (both ancient Chinese weapons) as ritual instruments with one hand, dares to run around in troubled times with dozens of students, and still likes to talk about great principles, I have indeed seen him..."

The girl said this series of words in one breath before taking a long breath.

Qi Family Army soldiers' soul: "............"

Water ghost: "............"

Jue seemed to feel that language could not express her cognition. After thinking about it, she also used mana to construct an illusion, explaining seriously: "Confucius, he is like this."

First, a tall and mighty Qilu strongman who could carry the city gate.

"He drives this."

The picture showed a huge bronze chariot pulled by four dragon horses.

"Wielding this."

Then, a huge bronze *ji* over two meters high and as thick as a wrist emerged.

"If necessary, he can wear armor, loudly chant the Oath of Tang, or war songs from the *Book of Songs*, or laugh, and then control the chariot with one hand, and wield a heavy weapon that requires many people to use with the other hand, flying towards you at the speed of a gale."

"Each of his disciples must master *li*, which is the laws and rules of Divine Land, must be proficient in divination, and must also be proficient in driving bronze chariots, mastering the most advanced long-range weapons and close-quarters weapons of that era, archery and swordsmanship, and, um, they must also be able to reason."

"And he has three thousand such students."

"How can you think that he only knows how to talk?"

The girl's eyes widened, her face full of disbelief.

"Divine Land was very chaotic in that era, but he was able to run around in troubled times without any problems."

The Qi Family Army soldiers' soul muttered: "Those Confucian scholars say that they rely on the principles of the sage."

The heavenly maiden said seriously:

"But this sentence was said by a person who is braver than a tiger and can carry the gate of the country. He also said that you should repay hatred, repay grievances with honesty, and sleep with weapons when you have a great enmity to remind yourself not to forget. If you meet an enemy on the road, you should directly go up and avenge them with your fists, saying that you will never live under the same sky..."

"Such a Confucian scholar."

She pointed to the Qi Family Army soldiers' soul manifested, thought about it, and her tone expressed dissatisfaction for the people she knew, but still seemed gentle and restrained, and said, "Confucius only needs to charge into the formation with his chariot to defeat ten, no, more than a hundred people..."

The corners of Wei Yuan's mouth twitched, and he said, "Then Jue, how did you meet Confucius?"

The girl put her hand back and replied, "Um... we were traveling outside and met Confucius, and listened to him talk about principles for a few days. Then, because we lost our jade talisman, a Kunlun Mountain general hurriedly came to reason with Confucius, but failed to win."

Wei Yuan was surprised, recalling those aloof Kunlun generals, and sincerely sighed:

"In this case, being able to reason is already commendable."

The girl opened her mouth and whispered:

"They fought first, and lost."

"Then they reasoned with Confucius."

The general was beaten by Confucius?

Wei Yuan was silent, then subconsciously looked to the side, at the man who came riding a chariot heroically.

He suddenly knew why Jue knew the scene of Confucius 'driving a chariot and wielding a *ge*'.

Jue straightened her hair and explained softly: "...So, because of that incident, I was unable to learn the *Yi* from Confucius. Otherwise, I should have had the opportunity to experience the process of Confucius collecting the remaining chapters, integrating them, and annotating them as the *Ten Wings of the Zhou Yi*."

Wei Yuan was a little regretful. After all, that was Confucius's understanding of the *Book of Changes*. If Jue had learned it, asking the girl for guidance would definitely improve his progress quickly. But as it seemed now, he could only study the book himself. He immediately comforted her, "It's okay."

His thoughts paused slightly, and he said, "By the way, what happened to that Kunlun general later..."

Jue was silent for a moment, and replied:

"Confucius didn't have three thousand disciples at that time."

Wei Yuan nodded knowingly, understanding that the Kunlun general should have become one of Confucius's disciples in the end, accompanying Confucius for his entire life before returning to Kunlun.

After all, he couldn't beat him, and he couldn't reason with him.

Wei Yuan shook his head, suddenly thinking of something, reached out and took out the remaining chocolate liqueurs, and smiled, "By the way, Jue, do you want a candy?"

Jue picked up a red one and said, "Did you go out to buy candy?"

Wei Yuan said casually:

"No, I just solved a problem today, and the kid from that family gave it to me, um, as a thank you gift."

Wei Yuan remembered something and said, "By the way, Jue, you've drunk alcohol before, there's a bit of alcohol in this candy..." Wei Yuan's voice stopped, seeing that after the girl ate the candy, her fair face visibly turned red, her eyes widened, and her light brown pupils seemed to be filled with water vapor.

Wei Yuan: "............"

She hadn't drunk alcohol in thousands of years?!

She was locked up on the mountain for nothing, and when she was let down the mountain to relax, she had to study. She wasn't allowed to drink alcohol whether she was going up or down the mountain. Xi Wangmu, what kind of feudal parent are you?

Wait, are there also gods who can't hold a single cup?

The heavenly maiden opened her mouth, "...How come I'm a little dizzy."

She took a step back, her footsteps staggering slightly.

Wei Yuan suddenly noticed the strange gazes behind him, turned his head, and saw the Qi Family Army soldiers' soul looking at him in disbelief. He saw the water ghost's eyes widen, and noticed that the two ghosts' gazes were fixed on his hand, staring at the remaining candies, staring at the colorful wrappers.

Wei Yuan suddenly felt a headache: "No, listen to me, this is just candy."

The water ghost took a step back, hugging his chest with both hands in a self-protective manner:

"Boss, did you drug her?"

The Qi Family Army soldiers' soul said with grief, "General, how can you be so despicable?!"

The red embroidered shoe quietly came out, felt for the landline, and quietly pressed the first number key.

The clear and bright mechanical tone sounded: "1..."

Wei Yuan: "I..."

The doorbell rang outside the door, and a woman in red stepped in. She immediately noticed this scene, noticed the heavenly maiden with a flushed face and dizzy, noticed the candy in Wei Yuan's hand. Yu Ji's expression was slightly stern, her sword-like eyebrows raised, and her two eyes fell straight on Wei Yuan, and she said:

"What's going on?"

Wei Yuan could only look at the heavenly maiden and say, "Jue, explain to them, this is just candy."

The girl's eyes were blank, and she opened her mouth.

She let out a small hiccup.

At that moment, Wei Yuan felt the fiery woman in front of him's icy gaze like swords.

He felt the joy and excitement of the Overlord's spear behind her—

Stab,

Stab him to death!

ps: Today's second update... three thousand six hundred words